Closure for an aerosol or like pressure container



y 1970 c. R. M. GRAHAM ET AL 3,510,030

CLOSURE FOR AN AEROSOL OR LIKE PRESSURE CONTAINER Filed April 50, 1968INVEmoes (:Ecu. R-M- GRHHHM Z8 umsznr IQ-LITTLE IO 51 United StatesPatent M 3,510,030 CLOSURE FOR AN AEROSOL OR LIKE PRESSURE CONTAINERCecil Robert Montgomery Graham, Killara, New South Wales, and LambertRonald Little, Eastwood, New South Wales, Australia, assignors to SamuelTaylor Pty. Limited, Gore Hill, New South Wales, Australia, acorporation of Australia Filed Apr. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 725,397 Claimspriority, application Australia, May 2, 1967, 21,153/67 Int. Cl. B65d83/14 US. Cl. 222-545 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A closure foran aerosol or other pressurized container having a neck and a mouththerein, a cap placed on said mouth and over said neck, and asubstantially cylindrical element connected with said cap and extendinginto the neck with clearance from the interior wall of said neck, theclosure further comprising a ring of elastically deformable materialelastically and displaceably fitted over the circumference of saidsubstantially cylindrical element, the outer circumference of said ringbeing such that the ring is an interference fit within said neck, sothat the ring is forced by interior pressure prevailing within saidcontainer into engagement with the free end of said substantiallycylindrical element.

This invention has reference to the sealing of aerosol containers of thetype having a cup-shaped valve chamber attached to, or made in one piecewith, the container cap. More particularly it is concerned with theprovision of a novel and improved seal for the container, the effect ofwhich is increased with increasing pressure within the container, andwhich to some extent is insensitive to variations in the position of thecap on the container top or outlet and to inaccuracies, if any, in thefixation of the cap to the container neck or equivalent, e.g. bycrimping.

In conventional aerosol containers the sealing of the container iseffected, as a rule, by a ring or like annular sealing body accommodatedwithin an annular space between the aforementioned chamber and theflange of the closure cap, the latter being secured over the neck orflange of the container or bottle by crimping, clipping, screwing, orotherwise. It is well known that with a sealing ring or annulus ofrubber or other elastically deformable material, which overlies thecontainer outlet or mouth, the sealing effect is diminished, and mayeven be eliminated altogether, if the cap together with the seal islifted off the container mouth even slightly by the pressure prevailingwithin the container, particularly if the fixation of the cap to thecontainer or bottle top is unsatisfactory or faultye.g., in the event offaulty or inadequate crimping. Also it is obvious that the interiorpressure within the container or bottle tends to lift the cap togetherwith the seal off the container mouth.

It is thus the main object of the present invention to provide a noveland improved seal in which any increase of the pressure on the sealtends to increase the adhesion of the seal to the neck of the bottle orcontainer, rather than to diminish or eliminate the sealing eifect.

This object is achieved in the invention by providing a ring of rubberor other elastically deformable material around the valve chamber oraround some other cylindrical element connected with the cap. Thecross-section of the ring may, for instance, be square or rectangular,or the ring may be an O-ring, the ring being fitted elastically3,510,030 Patented May 5, 1970 and displaceably over the circumferenceof the valve chamber or of the cylindrical element. An inner flange orequivalent is provided around the valve chamber or around saidcylindrical element on or near the closure cap and the elasticallycompressible ring is arranged on said chamber or element in such amanner that it 18 made to engage said inner flange under the action of apressure prevailing within the container.

Thus, according to the invention a closure for an aerosol or likepressure container having a neck and a mouth therein, a cap placed onsaid mouth and over sald neck, and a substantially cylindrical elementconnected with said cap and extending into the neck with clearance fromthe interior wall of said neck, comprises a ring of elasticallydeformable material elastically and displaceably fitted over thecircumference of said substantially cylindrical element, the outercircumference of said rlng being such that the ring is an interferencefit within said neck.

It will be understood that with this arrangement the pressure within theaerosol container causes the elastically compressible ring to be urgedtowards said substantially cylindrical element or a shoulder providedthereon. As the elastic material of the ring which fits over thecircumference of the valve chamber or of said substantially cylindricalelement is unable to escape radially inward towards said chamber orelement, it is forced radially outwardly by the pressure within thecontainer whereby the ring is made to firmly engage the inner wall ofthe container neck or mouth, such engagement being intensified by anyincrease of the pressure within the aerosol container.

Thus, if the cap is not tightly crimped onto or other wise secured tothe container mouth, or if the crimping is damaged, such inadequacy ofthe closure does not affect the sealing eifect ensured by theelastically compressible ring together with the inner wall of thecontainer neck or mouth.

In order to more particularly describe the invention reference is madeto the accompanying drawing which, by way of example only, illustratesvarious embodiments of the invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows in cross-section the neck of an aerosol container with acap placed on its end, a valve chamber secured to the cap and a sealingring of circular crosssection fitted over the circumference of saidchamber;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are views similar to FIG. 1 but showing constructionswhich include a ring of drop-shaped and a rectangular cross-section,respectively; and

FIG. 4 is a view in which the ring is placed upon a cylindrical elementforming part of the cap, instead of on said valve chamber.

Identical or equivalent parts of the closure are denoted by the samereference numerals in all figures of the drawing.

Referring to FIG. 1 this shows a construction which includes a cap 5 ofplastically deformable material provided with an outer flange 6 and withan interior flange 7, both flanges surrounding concentrically a centralaperture 8 in the top 9 of the cap. The cap is placed over the neck 10of an aerosol container, the cap overlying the end 11 of the containerneck 10 with the outer flange 6 engaging the outer circumference 12 ofsaid neck close to the outer end 11 of the latter, whereas the innerflange 7 of the cap 5 enters the mouth 13 of the container, beingarranged in close vicinity to the inner wall of the neck 10.

The valve chamber 14 of the aerosol container is fitted into the spacebounded by the inner side of the interior flange 7 and the top 9 of thecap 5 and it is retained therein by a shoulder 15 formed in the outer 3wall of the chamber 14 and by a corresponding shoulder 16 formed insidethe flange 7.

A discharge tube 17 projects from one end of the chamber 14 and extendswith clearance through the aperture 8, a gasket 18 of elasticallycompressible material being provided between the top face 19 of thechamber 14 and the inner surface of the top 9 of the cap which surroundsthe aperture 8. Outside the container and at a distance from the. outersurface of the top 9 of the cap 5, the discharge tube 17 carries, asusual, the spray head 20 which contains a spray nozzle (not shown).

In the embodiment shown a sealing ring 21 made of rubber, or of someother elastically deformable elastomeric material is elastically fittedonto the outer circumference of the chamber 14, the outer diameter ofthe ring 21 being so dimensioned that the ring is an interference fitwithin the inner wall of the container neck 10.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the ring 21 is of circular cross-section. Ifso desired, however, the ring cross-section may somewhat deviate fromcircular shape, the ring 21 being then a so-called O-ring.

The arrangement illustrated in FIG. 2 differs from that shown in FIG. 1solely in that the cross-section of the ring 21' is substantiallydrop-shaped. The tapering part of the ring cross-section enters a space22 between the extremity 23 of the interior flange 7 and the chamber 14,said space converging from the extremity 23 towards the shoulder 15 ofthe chamber 14.

If so desired, the ring 21 may be extended as indicated in FIG. 2 bydoted lines 24 to provide increased adhesion of the ring to thecircumference of the chamber 14.

The arrangement of FIG. 3 differs from that according to FIG. 1 only inthat the ring 21" is of rectangular cross-section.

In the modification illustrated in FIG. 4 the interior flange 7comprises an annular base 25 which projects from the underside of thetop 9 of the cap 5, and an annular extension 26 which depends from thebase 25 and has an outer diameter smaller than that of said base 25. Anannular shoulder 27 is formed in the outer wall of the flange 7' wherethe base 25 and the flange extension 26 meet.

It will be seen that in the modification of FIG. 4 the sealing ring 21"is slipped over the outer surface of the flange extension 26 i.e., overa cylindrical element other than the chamber 14 itself. The flangeextension 26 projects into the mouth 13 of the container when theclosure is applied to the container neck 10.

While in FIG. 1 the cap is simply forced over the end portion of thecontainer neck and may be retained thereon e.g. by friction, or by aclip (not shown); FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show the free edge 28 of thedepending outer flange 6 of the cap as being crimped over the endportion of the container neck 10.

We desire it to be understood that we do not wish protection by LettersPatent to be limited to the aforedescribed details, as these are capableof modification within the scope and ambit of the appended claims.

Thus, for instance, the cross-sectional configuration of the resilientlycompressible ring may be varied optionally, e.g. be made ellipticalinstead of circular or, if the cross-section of the ring issubstantially square or rectangular, the corners of the square orrectangular cross-section may be rounded.

The abovementioned shoulder may either be provided especially within theclosure cap, or it may be constituted by a part of the chamber or of thecap, irrespective of whether such part has or has not any additionalfunction.

We claim:

1. A closure for an aerosol or like pressurized container having a neckand a mouth therein, a cap placed on said month and over said neck, anda substantially cylindrical element connected to said cap and extendinginto the neck with clearance from the interior wall of said neck todefine an annular passage opening into the container and subjected tothe pressure within the container, said cap including a portionextending into said annular passage, the closure further comprising aring of elastically deformable material elastically and displaceablyfitted over the circumference of said substantially cylindrical element,with the outer circumference of said ring being such that the ring is aninterference fit within said neck, whereby the ring forms a seal withinsaid annular passage, any increase in pressure within the containercompressing said ring axially against said portion to expand radially toincrease the tightness of the fit of said ring with the circumference ofsaid substantially cylindrical element and with said neck.

2. A closure for an aerosol or like pressurized container having a neckand a mouth therein, a cap placed on said mouth and over said neck, anda substantially cylindrical valve chamber, which forms part of saidaerosol container, connected with said cap and extending into the neckwith clearance from the interior wall of said neck, said cap beingprovided with an outer flange which, in the assembled closure, overliesthe mouth and at least a part of the neck of said container, and with aninner flange which is spaced from said outer flange and depends from theside of the cap which, in the assembled closure, overlies the containermouth, while said inner flange enters the gap between the outer wall ofsaid chamber and the inner wall of said neck, the closure member furthercomprising a ring of elastically deformable material elastically anddisplaceably fitted over the substantially cylindrical outer surface ofsaid chamber in a position close to said inner flange, the outercircumference of said ring being such that the ring is an interferencefit within said neck, so that the ring is forced, by interior pressureprevailing within said container, into engagement with the free end ofsaid annular flange.

3. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is of circularcross-section.

4. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is an O-ring.

5. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is ofsubstantially rectangular cross-section.

6. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is substantiallydrop-shaped in cross-section.

7. A closure for an aerosol or like pressurized container having a neckand a mouth therein, a cap placed on said mouth and over said neck, andprovided with an outer flange and with an interior annular flangearranged at a distance from said outer flange, said interior flangehaving an annular base which depends on the side of the cap which, inthe assembled closure, overlies the container mouth, and further havinga substantially cylindrical extension which projects from said annularbase and recedes from the interior wall of said neck, a shoulder beingprovided in the outer surface of said interior flange between the baseof the latter and said receding extension thereof, the closure furthercomprising a ring of elastically deformable material elastically anddisplaceably fitted over the substantially cylindrical surface of saidreceding flange extension close to said shoulder, so that said ring isforced by interior pressure, prevailing within said container, intosealing engagement with the base of said flange and with the interiorwall of the container neck, the outer circumference of said ring beingsuch that the ring is an interference fit within said neck.

8. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is of circularcross-section, said valve chamber being retained within a space boundedby said inner flange, by shoulders provided in the circumference of saidchamber and in the inner face of said inner flange, respectively.

9. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is ofsubstantially rectangular cross-section, said valve chamber beingretained Within a space bounded by said inner flange, by shouldersprovided in the circumference of said chamber and in the inner face ofsaid inner flange, respectively.

10. A closure, as claimed in claim 2, wherein said ring is substantiallydrop-shaped in cross-section, said valve chamber being retained Within aspace bounded by said inner flange, by shoulders provided in thecircumference of said chamber and in the inner face of said innerflange, respectively.

11. A closure, as claimed in claim 7, including a valve chamber whichforms a part of said aersol container, said valve chamber being retainedwithin a space bounded by said interior flange by shoulders provided inthe circumference of said chamber and in the inner face of said interiorflange, respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, PrimaryExaminer N. L. STACK, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

